Lawn Mower

icehouse1
icehouse1 Posts: 37
edited January 2008 in The Clubhouse
I am looking to buy a Riding Lawn Mower and Leaf Remover. Any Thoughts?
Post edited by icehouse1 on
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited January 2008
    I thinking about cleaning out the spare bed room to make room for a vintage 2 channel rig. I am also thinking about taking a shower some time in the next hour or two..................... Wait a minute. Did you meen thoughts about lawn mowers?:D

    How big is your yard?
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  • nikolas812
    nikolas812 Posts: 2,915
    edited January 2008
    http://www.dixiechopper.com/
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  • ohskigod
    ohskigod Posts: 6,502
    edited January 2008
    love my craftsman mower, but there's lots of good brands out there. lot of bang for buck with my craftsman, but the lawn isnt huge, its just too big for a push mower
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited January 2008
    Briggs and Straton makes the best mower engines, hands down.
    Jake
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  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited January 2008
    I am more of a Kohler Engine guy.

    I am a big fan of Cub Cadet. Not the Lowe's Home Depot ones. The ones you get from a lawn center. Much better quality then the chain store models.
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  • skipf
    skipf Posts: 694
    edited January 2008
    As a guy who worked on most of the riding mower engines, Kawasaki engines are the best hands down. Honda is second and not far behind, followed by Kohler. Briggs is next, and Techumseh is last. Briggs don't hold up well under heavy use, but the parts are cheaper than any of the others. If you do your own work, they may be the way to go for that reason.
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  • shawn474
    shawn474 Posts: 3,052
    edited January 2008
    Depends on how big of a yard we are talking about. I have a Craftsman that I love (only about a half acre and heavily wooded so I use it to mulch and bag the leaves). Of course, John Deere is reliable and well built - I just couldn't afford one!!!!!

    Cub Cadet used to be good but dollar to performance just isn't where it used to be. If you have a larger yard and don't mind spending a little extra, check out Kubota.

    Shawn
    Shawn
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,837
    edited January 2008
    Lawnmowers that engines with actual oil pumps instead of slinger rings (like Honda) are better, aren't they ?
    Sal Palooza
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,000
    edited January 2008
    Yeah,for steep grades,that others can't handle.
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited January 2008
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • glemay
    glemay Posts: 574
    edited January 2008
    We've been using the same Kubota lawn trator for 20 years and have had no problems with it. We cut the grass and push snow with it. Just do the regular maintenance and your good to go. Gotta love that diesel engine.
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  • MattN03
    MattN03 Posts: 558
    edited January 2008
    I bought a Cub Cadet 1042 (18 HP/42" cut/hydrostatic tranny) and it's been fine for regular residential mowing. I mowed about 3/4 acre with it last year & put about 50 hours on w/o any problems. We have moved and I'll be mowing about 1.5 acres probably now (the rest of our 5 acres is woods thank goodness!). We will see if it's up to this much mowing...The biggest problem with this mower for was hauling 200+lbs in a wagon up hill. The drive belt will begin to slip and it just won't make it up the hill. I ended up buying a hitch for my ATV to pull the heavier loads of yard work around. I'll think you'll have this problem with about any $1500-$2000 lawn mower. You'll need to step up to a sturdier machine if you need much more from it than normal mowing & light hauling IMO.

    Whatever you decide, I highly recommend buying a mower with the hydrostatic tranny. You can change speeds or back up much faster with this. It's a huge time saver.
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  • nms
    nms Posts: 671
    edited January 2008
    The biggest problem with this mower for was hauling 200+lbs in a wagon up hill. The drive belt will begin to slip and it just won't make it up the hill.

    Hydrostatic trannies are not meant to pull loads anyhow. You did your lawnmower a favor by making your ATV do the hauling!
    My system

    "The world is an ever evolving clusterf*ck." --treitz3
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  • MattN03
    MattN03 Posts: 558
    edited January 2008
    nms wrote: »
    Hydrostatic trannies are not meant to pull loads anyhow. You did your lawnmower a favor by making your ATV do the hauling!

    Hydrostatic transmissions can handle the load, but it would be shaft driven instead of belt driven like the lighter duty mowers have. Those mowers have no problem with loads when I've used them in the past. I know for a fact genuine John Deere's are made like this (not the ones at Lowes, etc).
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,092
    edited January 2008
    Lawn service!! Kick back & listen to tunes whileist they mow away.
    "2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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  • nms
    nms Posts: 671
    edited January 2008
    MattN03 wrote: »
    Hydrostatic transmissions can handle the load, but it would be shaft driven instead of belt driven like the lighter duty mowers have. Those mowers have no problem with loads when I've used them in the past. I know for a fact genuine John Deere's are made like this (not the ones at Lowes, etc).

    Ok, I should have qualified my statement: light duty hydrostatic transmissions like those found in your typical Lowe's and HD variety lawnmowers are not designed to regularly pull large loads. :)

    You're right in that properly designed hydro transmissions can do it no problem.
    My system

    "The world is an ever evolving clusterf*ck." --treitz3
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  • MattN03
    MattN03 Posts: 558
    edited January 2008
    nms wrote: »
    Ok, I should have qualified my statement: light duty hydrostatic transmissions like those found in your typical Lowe's and HD variety lawnmowers are not designed to regularly pull large loads. :)

    You're right in that properly designed hydro transmissions can do it no problem.

    Exactly. Now if they didn't cost so much $$$ :(
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  • I-SIG
    I-SIG Posts: 2,243
    edited January 2008
    Go Grasshopper, grasshopper.

    Wes
    Link: http://polkarmy.com/forums

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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited January 2008
    Find a used cub cadet about 15 years old. It'll run another 20 years. As for engines keep them clean, feed them clean gas, clean the air filter, and they ALL run forever. I have never had a mower engine die that wasn't the result of poor maintenance.

    I'm not Paul Harvey
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    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • nms
    nms Posts: 671
    edited January 2008
    You forgot change the oil - the most important thing you can do for your engine!
    My system

    "The world is an ever evolving clusterf*ck." --treitz3
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  • Mazeroth
    Mazeroth Posts: 1,585
    edited January 2008
    zingo wrote: »
    Briggs and Straton makes the best mower engines, hands down.

    Ummm...no. Not even close. Kohler engines are FAR better. My father has 2 Gravely tractors from the 60s and one from the 80s that all have functioning Kohler engines. Feed them gas, change the oil once a year, and they'll love you for life!
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  • icehouse1
    icehouse1 Posts: 37
    edited January 2008
    My yard is about 1/2 Acre.
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